The Dancing Bride And Her Spirit Warrior - Episode 12

 

That evening after Juma had helped her deliver the cub back to the reserve, she made her way home, humming to herself. A day well spent. She couldn’t wait to go hit the bed and sleep and dream about her day with Juma, she would relive it for a long time, Vuyanzi was sure.

‘’I have to take you home, it’s getting late,’’ Juma had insisted but Vuyanzi stood firm she was going home on her own.

‘’No I can make it home, I think Kweyu is busy licking his wounds and ego to come after me,’’

‘’Promise me, you will think about what we talked about, no more putting your life in danger. There are people paid to take care of such thing,’’

‘’I will,’’ Vuyanzi had promised and this time she meant.

Then they had parted ways.

She was near her grandmother’s gate when she heard the raised voice of her shosho . She hurried her steps thinking that something had happened.

She entered the gate and saw her shosho standing in front of the house with her hands akimbo and Tabu standing beside her. Tabu saw Vuyanzi approaching and sneered at her then she whispered something to her grandmother. Her shosho turned toward her and Vuyanzi was taken aback by the fury she saw there

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. Even in the fading light, her shosho’s angry scowl could be seen.

Oh oh trouble.

‘’Vuyanzi come here,’’ her grandmother spat out stomping her leg on the lush green grass.

‘’Shosho what is going on?’’ Vuyanzi hesitated for a moment before she pushed the rickety gate and crossed the lawn to her grandmother’s side.

‘’Where have you been?’’

‘’I…was in the…,’’ Vuyanzi started and stopped what was she going to say, she was in the game reserve? Or the market or Milimani?

‘’Don’t you dare say you were on the market, you were not. I have been there since lunch and I couldn’t find you,’’

‘’Shosho I can explain, I had to run an errand. A customer asked me to deliver some vegetables up in Milimani, (a section of the high end estates),’’ Vuyanzi regretted saying the words the moment they left her mouth, her shosho looked mad enough to chew her inside out. Tabu smiled triumphantly.

Vuyanzi had a feeling she had fallen into a trap.

‘’Kneel down, Tabu fetch me my cane and a stool, we are not going anywhere until you start talking young lady.’’ Her shosho was livid and Vuyanzi new she was having a long night ahead. Her shosho was serious when she brought out her cane.

Vuyanzi quickly knelt down ignoring her bruised knees, Kweyu the lunatic had pushed her down earlier.

‘’You have been seen with Kweyu and then with Juma. I leave you with chores and you go around the town with different boys. If it was not for your cousin I would not have known. What were you doing in Milimani with those boys Vuyanzi? Start talking before I slap you,’’

Vuyanzi noticed how the story was twisted, the one who reported her: Tabu had failed to talk about the fight. Though Vuyanzi was sure if she mentioned anything about involved with a fight with two boys, this story would take a drastic turn.

Tabu came back with her shosho’s famed cane. Vuyanzi and Tabu knew very well the pain inflicted with the cane. Shosho lowered her body to the stool and flexed her fingers before taking the cane from Tabu’s eagerly outstretched hands. Vuyanzi looked at the cane wearingly. It had been so long since her grandmother had punished her but she vividly remembered the pain caused by it.

‘’Shosho I promise, I didn’t do anything bad today, I was honestly delivering some foodstuff to Milimani, I met Juma and Kweyu by chance,’’

‘’Liar, you had gone to see Juma,’’ Tabu interjected. ‘’Shosho she is lying,’’ Vuyanzi wanted to jump up and throttle her cousin, how could she stand there and slander her like that?

‘’Vuyanzi you have started running around with boys is that it,?’’ Shosho raised the cane, ‘’Talk before I call your uncle. Don’t think I have forgotten how you came in late at night the other day,’’

‘’No shosho don’t tell uncle please, I promise I won’t do it again,’’ Vuyanzi pleaded, she didn’t want to inconvenience anyone else. The quicker everybody forgot about today the better.

‘’Vuyanzi what is going on with you? I don’t know what to do with you, you are defying me in each and every turn, I give you medicine, you don’t take, you run around with bad boys, you came late and now you are lying directly to my face. Where did mistaken? Did I raise you wrong?’’ her shosho lamented shaking her head.

‘’No shosho it’s not like that, shosho please don’t worry. I…Kweyu…pushed me down…I didn’t do anything to him,’’

‘’What about Kweyu, I have had it with you and that boy today we are reporting him to the chief, stand up.’’ Shosho pulled Vuyanzi up by the arm, she threw the cane down and Vuyanzi momentarily breathed a sigh of relief but only for a short while before tension rose again, her grandmother couldn’t be serious about reporting the matter to the chief.

Was she?

Vuyanzi looked pleadingly at Tabu who had a look of guilt on her face. That’s right she should be mortified of lying to their shosho. Her little joke was turning out to be a big disaster. Lishevi was known for causing big spectacles in public and if they were to go to the chief’s house, something was bound to happen.

‘’ Shosho we can’t go to the chief, it’s not a big deal,’’

‘’It is a big deal, the other day you had bruises on your neck and now your knees are scraped, you couldn’t even kneel properly, look?’’ shosho raised Vuyanzi’s cotton skirt up, she winced when her shosho touched them not so gently. Vuyanzi had no idea that she was that wounded, it didn’t hurt as much earlier.

Most likely because she was day dreaming about Juma.

 ‘’Shosho I will apply medicine, it won’t hurt much and I promise to keep of Kweyu,’’ Vuyanzi earnestly vowed. She was swearing off Kweyu for now maybe she could apply Juma’s suggestion. Let the reserve wardens do their job.

‘’It doesn’t matter, we are going to the chief, Tabu call your father to meet us there,’’ Shosho commanded and dragged a pleading Vuyanzi behind her. Vuyanzi sent a quick prayer to the Almighty and wished for ground to open up and swallow her, this was one of the worst days in all her young life.

Vuyanzi’s pleading fell on deaf ear as her grandmother was not listening. Lishevi was a stubborn woman and once she set her mind on something, she followed it through.

On the way to the chief’s compound they attracted attention, Vuyanzi and Tabu could only hang their heads and follow their grandmother’s quick pace.

They made their way to the chief’s homestead which acted as his partly office, considering the number of cases being solved from the homestead. The chief had an official office at the cultural Centre. Monthly the town’s elders would meet up and hold meetings. Most of the meeting involved solving rows among family members and land disputes. The chief’s compound was ever busy but today it was quiet.

Outside the large house, three very large motor vehicles were packed. Vuyanzi didn’t know much about cars but they looked expensive definitely not from the town likely politicians or tourists. Like those the politicians liked to move around with, they were common referred to as fuel guzzlers. The cars were big, black with tinted windows. They shone in the receding sunlight.

Vuyanzi looked around to see if she could spot the normal crowd that always accompanied politicians like moths to light but there was no one around. The compound was devoid of people.

Strange.

Vuyanzi my bride, a voice crooned in the wind somewhere behind her. No. not again Vuyanzi cried again, she was not hearing voices. She was not going crazy. It had been a while since she had heard the words, who was calling her?

Vuyanzi turned sharply but there was nothing no one behind her.

Come to me, the voice went on behind her she turned again and faced Tabu who was looking at her quizzically.

‘’Did you call me? Or hear anyone call me?’’ Vuyanzi whispered to her cousin.

‘’So apart from trying to steal my boyfriend you are hearing things?  You just don’t know when to stop do you Vuyanzi,’’ Tabu ridiculed folding her arms on her under her chest. She spoke in a low tone to avoid shosho from hearing.

‘’I didn’t try to steal anything and you know it,’’ Vuyanzi hated how Tabu talked about Juma as if he was a toy. He was a fully grown man and he could choose whomever he wanted. Not that it mattered anyway he had already chosen Tabu and Vuyanzi respected his decision.

‘’You have always wanted Juma, stop pretending,’’ jealousy oozed from Tabu’s words.

‘’You are only going out with him because I told you he is my crush,’’ Vuyanzi said tired of running around their disagreement and deciding to face it head on, their shosho had gone ahead and couldn’t hear them now.

‘’You overestimate yourself Vuyanzi, Juma does not want you. Nobody would want you.’’ Tabu’s words hurt but Vuyanzi pushed that down.

Vuyanzi the voice was louder now, ringing in her head.

Read " Jabali's Redemption " by the same author ( Razia Iminza )

. Vuyanzi could hear anger registering in it. Why was he angry with her? Why did she care?

‘’Vuyanzi, Tabu come here,’’ their shosho called them, her shrill voice stopping their bickering.

They approached Lishevi who was standing close to Chief’s wife who had an apprehensive look on her face.

‘’Lishevi, you couldn’t have come at a more inappropriate time, we are hosting some very important people. How about we solve this some other time?’’ the chief’s wife said leading them a bit far away from the house. Vuyanzi felt energy coming back to her legs after hearing the chief’s wife words. If only her grandmother would drop the whole issue of reporting Kweyu as a bully to the chief but knowing her grandmother that was not going to happen easily.

‘’What do you mean Mama Elizabeth, we are residents of this town and I can’t access the chief because he is talking to some mheshimiwa?’’ Lishevi addressed the chief’s wife.

‘’Don’t get me wrong Lishevi, all am saying is that the chief is attending to some big people from the city. They not politicians,’’ Vuyanzi could see the chief’s wife was nearly rolling her eyes to the back of her head. Lishevi could be a little dramatic sometimes.

‘’Shosho maybe the chief’s wife is correct how about we go home and…,’’ Tabu started

‘’Shut up Tabu, we have to solve this today and now my granddaughter can’t be bullied continuously and you expect me to do nothing, the chief might better come out here before I call on the whole village,’’ Lishevi was now raising her voice and Vuyanzi wished she was somewhere else.

This couldn’t be happening.

‘’Okay Lishevi how about we set an appointment with the chief tomorrow morning,’’ mama Elizabeth looked expectantly at their grandmother.

‘’Am I being treated this way because am a widow,’’ Lishevi lamented throwing her hands in the air dramatically, Vuyanzi could not believe her grandmother used the widow card to get the chief to come out. She even squeezed a few tears from her eyes to emphasize her point. Vuyanzi was impressed by her grandmother’s act.

‘’Lishevi you know that is not true, don’t say such things, let me see what I can do.’’ The chief’s wife said quickly falling for her grandmother’s poor widow act. ‘’Promise to stay here as quiet as possible the chief will be with you in a short while,’’

After a nod from them she turned and went back to the house.

‘’You didn’t have to be so dramatic shosho, one day the poor widow act won’t work,’’ Tabu said, ‘father texted he is on his way,’’

Oh God, couldn’t this day get any longer and complicated Vuyanzi internally wailed.

Vuyanzi look at me, the voice demanded and she turned to the house. This time she saw something, someone.

A tall shadowy figure beside the chief’s house.

Hey ebonites.

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